A meandering repetitious film, devoid of characterization, rhythm, or honest political insight.
All those echoes of Jacques Tourneur, Pedro Costa or Miguel Gomes only betray the essences of what these film masters achieved in their vibrant and haunting critiques of colonialism. Conceicao tries too hard to emulate their styles and tempos, but he simply lacks the know-how and intellectual foundation to pull it off.
And just as sadly, the director fails to approach the eloquence of the zombie genre "master classes" achieved by true pop iconoclasts like Romero or Jarmusch.
Conceicao may be somewhat well-grounded in the history of his homeland, but he doesn't seem to comprehend the positive value of the terms "offhanded" and "entertaining". But credit is still due to Anabela Moreira as "Apolonia" for a valiant effort in what is otherwise a desert of film performance..
All those echoes of Jacques Tourneur, Pedro Costa or Miguel Gomes only betray the essences of what these film masters achieved in their vibrant and haunting critiques of colonialism. Conceicao tries too hard to emulate their styles and tempos, but he simply lacks the know-how and intellectual foundation to pull it off.
And just as sadly, the director fails to approach the eloquence of the zombie genre "master classes" achieved by true pop iconoclasts like Romero or Jarmusch.
Conceicao may be somewhat well-grounded in the history of his homeland, but he doesn't seem to comprehend the positive value of the terms "offhanded" and "entertaining". But credit is still due to Anabela Moreira as "Apolonia" for a valiant effort in what is otherwise a desert of film performance..